


a picture worth a thousand words

by PaladinoFandoms



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Light Angst, Very Very Light Angst, this is. badly written
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-10
Updated: 2017-11-10
Packaged: 2019-01-31 08:16:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12677976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaladinoFandoms/pseuds/PaladinoFandoms
Summary: Keith isn't a snooper. He keeps to himself and lets others do their own thing. After all, there isn't much he'd want to know.But curiosity killed the cat (or rather, the Red Paladin). And as for satisfaction... well, he'd have to see.





	a picture worth a thousand words

Keith hated emotions. Stupid tears, stupid video that recorded him almost-crying, stupid him, to be so vulnerable where everyone could see.

He didn't even know why he had brought up his mom. It was a touchy subject, one that he hadn't even talked about with Shiro. Why, then, did he record himself talking about it on a public database where anyone could see it?

He spent hours staring at himself in the mirror, angrily scrubbing away the tear tracks and placing cold compresses on his eyes to reduce swelling.

When Shiro knocked on his door, asking him to come to dinner, he refused, keeping the door firmly closed. He'd much rather stay hungry rather than let the team see his vulnerability. Lance would probably just make a joke about being a crybaby, and he was in no mood to face Shiro’s questioning or prodding concern.

He ended up sneaking to the kitchen late at night, the growls of his stomach keeping him awake. But after filling a bowl, he only managed to eat a few spoonfuls of goo before pushing it away.

Food didn't help to settle the unease roiling in his stomach, and Keith couldn't avoid the problem that was his video anymore. Unable to sit still and do nothing, Keith headed to the control room with the intent to delete his video. On his way there, he bumped into Lance, who uttered a small sorry and hurried away.

“Wait, Lance,” Keith called. “Are you-”

“I'm fine,” Lance responded, but his voice sounded croaky.

Keith half considered going after his teammate, but Lance had already disappeared. Mentally shrugging, Keith continued on his way to the control room.

Once he got there, Keith locked the door and slid into the chair. He swiped around experimentally for a bit before finding the files he wanted. He then accessed the video log and hovered over the link to his vlog, ready to press delete. It wasn't until he took a closer look that he saw a third entry, one made just now.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that it was Lance who made the video, even without the title labeled with his name.

His fingers itched to click on the video and see what it showed.

The logical part of his mind told him not to, that he himself would hate it if someone saw his video.

But if Lance put it here, on a public place where anyone could view it, Keith reasoned, then It should be fine to watch it. Right?

Before his conscience could chide him any further, Keith clicked on the video, summoning a projection of the current Red Paladin.

_“Hey there,” Lance greets. “I'm Lance, former Blue Paladin of Voltron and current Red Paladin. For all you wonderful aliens, I'm from the planet known as Earth in a solar system far, far away.”_

Keith watched Lance wave his hands around as he described his home planet, including the oceans, which Lance calls “the coolest hecking thing you'll ever see”.

_“Anyways, I'm out in the deep unknown called space fighting an evil purple alien named Zarkon and this witchy person called Haggar. The fellow paladins of Voltron are my best bud Hunk, Pidge, the tiny gremlin who’s actually kinda sweet, Allura the gorgeous space princess, and Keith, my mulleted rival.”_

Keith frowned slightly at the description, but continued to play the video.

_“Voltron’s kinda messed up right now because our old black paladin went missing somehow? But while he was gone Keith became black paladin instead, and then I filled in as red paladin while Allura pilots Blue. It's complicated, though, because then Shiro came back and… I hate to say this but he's been replaced by Keith and it's super awkward. I mean, Allura and Blue are getting along great so I'm pretty sure Keith can go back to Red and Shiro to Black. I'll just be… moral support with Coran!”_

_Lance smiles at the camera, but it’s weak and doesn't completely cover up the wavering pain in his eyes._

_“I mean, Shiro already clashed with Keith over being a leader. Those two are… god, I hate to say this, but they're like my role models. Shiro went to freaking Kerberos, and the Black Lion accepted Keith. You know, the Black Lion. Head of Voltron, the leader of the group. Everything that I'm not, and probably won't be.”_

Keith's mouth dropped open at this, mind whirling. Lance… admired him? But the recording continued, and so he dragged his attention back to the video. He filed that information, however, to think about later.

_“But seriously. Keith and Shiro, basically like the elite. They were both top of the Garrison classes, smart as hell, and awesome pilots to boot. Pidge is practically a genius, what with the hacking and coding and all that, Hunk is a cooking and an engineering prodigy, Allura’s a fricking alien space princess with rad fighting skills, and I'm… okay, so I can shoot stuff.”_

_Lance throws his arms up in frustration, huffing._

_“But everyone can shoot stuff! Pidge isn't half bad, and Hunk is a great shot. What's even the point of telling me I'm a useful part of the team, if everyone already knows that I'm not? Sure, I can be backup, or whatever, but that just seems like bad luck, doesn't it? Like we're expecting someone else to get hurt.”_

_Lance quiets, face downcast as he murmurs his next words._

_“I- I'm just a boy from Cuba.”_

_Lance sighs, then runs a hand through his hair._

_“The only thing I'm looking forward to at this point is all the parades and going home, and- Oh, who am I kidding,” he mutters, and glances up to the camera, expression serious._

_“Look, I’d love to be Mr. Positive, but I know there's a pretty big chance not all of us will make it home. I mean, it's a war, right? There are casualties, and wounds not even healing pods could heal. So… if I don't, uh, return, I'm gonna ask that someone show this to my family. That they get to see me, even if it's not, you know, in person. I already came close to death that time with the bomb, and that was not fun.”_

_Lance smiles crookedly, eyes glimmering slightly._

_“Mamá, Papá, Carmen, Val, Jamie, Mateo, Isa, all of you. I… god, it's probably Carmen’s quinceañera, isn't it? It's hard to tell time in space. Carmen, I'm so sorry if I missed it. If- when I get home, we're going to have a party, okay? And we'll have paella and flan and abuela will stuff us with tamales until we can't even walk and…”_

_Keith feels bad for watching as Lance chokes on his words, voice cracking. A sadness wells up inside of him as he watches Lance cry for the family he might never see again. Their situations were so opposite- him, crying for the family who left him behind and Lance, grieving for the family he'd abandoned. Yet he couldn't help sympathizing with the current Red Paladin, fingers clenching hard enough to dig half moons into his palm._

_“I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I had to leave you behind. Is it selfish of me to want to stay behind with you instead of saving the universe?”_

_Lance drags a hand down his face, not bothering to hold back the tears and this point._

_“Goddamn it, I'm supposed to be here for the first time someone brings home a boy, so I can tell them not to hurt my baby siblings, and I wasn't supposed miss Jamie’s wedding, and-”_

_A teary hiccup interrupts Lance’s words._

_“Te amo,” he says. “Te amo y voy a amarte para todos mis días. I love all of you, and- and at least you can tell everyone about Tío Lance, who went to space, a-and saved the world from evil aliens.”_

_Lance visibly takes a deep breath, and his expression seems to calm down even though he's still crying._

_“I'm sorry to whoever’s watching this,” he apologizes. “I probably look like crap, and you didn't watch this to see me blubber like a baby.”_

_Lance closes his eyes and takes in and their deep breath._

_“This is Lance McClain, Carg- Fighter Pilot Class C20, signing out.”_

The last thing Keith saw before the camera faded out was Lance giving a halfhearted Garrison salute, and then the screen went black.

Keith sat there, shocked into stillness. He still can't really believe what he saw, from Lance calling him a role model (ha, as if. If Lance really knew him, he wouldn't say that) to all these insecurities Keith never knew Lance had, to Lance breaking down… if he'd known, Keith didn't think he would've watched the video.

It wasn't until something cold splashes on his hands that he realized he was tearing up.

“Goddamn it, Lance,” Keith rasped grumpily. “Making me all emotional.”

Keith didn't even really know quite why this had made him so sad, but he could sympathize with the way Lance felt that he couldn't fit in. The loneliness. The feeling that if he'd left, no one would even care. (He'd tested that theory when he went to live in the desert. The Garrison didn't even bother looking for him. Go figure.)

He pushed himself up from the table slightly angrily, ready to confront Lance (or comfort, he didn't really know. Maybe a mixture of both?). He wasn't the best at the whole reassuring thing- Shiro was better at that- but he could still try.

When Keith left, he forgot that his video was still there, undeleted. But even if he did, something tells him he wouldn't really have cared.

**Author's Note:**

> Well that's it!! I have a tentative idea for a second (or maybe a third part), but this could end here too, i guess. If i get enough response I might write it ;)
> 
> Anyways!! Comments/constructive criticism and kudos would be greatly appreciated. Thank youuuuu <3  
> ~Paladin


End file.
